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Book Summary and Reviews of Body Work by Sara Paretsky

Body Work by Sara Paretsky

Body Work

V.I. Warshawski Novel

by Sara Paretsky

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  • Aug 2010, 464 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

The enigmatic performer known as the Body Artist takes the stage at Chicago's Club Gouge and allows her audience to use her naked body as a canvas for their impromptu illustrations. V. I. Warshawski watches as people step forward, some meek, some bold, to make their mark.

The evening takes a strange turn when one woman's sketch triggers a violent outburst from a man at a nearby table. Quickly subdued, the man - an Iraqi war vet - leaves the club. Days later, the woman is shot outside the club. She dies in V.I.'s arms, and the police move quickly to arrest the angry vet.

A shooting in Chicago is nothing new, certainly not to V.I., who is hired by the vet's family to clear his name. As V.I. seeks answers, her investigation will take her from the North Side of Chicago to the far reaches of the Gulf War.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. This strong outing shows why the tough, fiercely independent, dog-loving private detective continues to survive." - Publishers Weekly

"Another solid entry in a popular series." - Booklist

"Paretsky plays out her trademark political and social themes not with rhetoric, but with a compelling story of lives shattered by pride, greed and fear of the unknown." - Kirkus

This information about Body Work was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Diane

Body Work
Sara Paretsky has done what many authors have trouble doing, keeping the long running Warshawski series fresh and captivating. She has in fact, gotten better with every novel. In body work she has mixed the Chicago art scene with the Iraq war and the problems Iraqi veterans have when returning to a regular life. One also learns interesting facts about Chicago along the way.

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Author Information

Sara Paretsky Author Biography

Before there was Lisbeth Salander or Stephanie Plum, there was V.I. Warshawski. Sara Paretsky revolutionized the mystery world in 1982 when she introduced V.I. in Indemnity Only. By creating a believable investigator with the grit and the smarts to tackle problems on the mean streets, Paretsky challenged a genre in which women typically were either vamps or victims. Hailed by critics and readers, Indemnity Only was followed by nineteen more best-selling Warshawski novels. The New York Times writes that Paretsky "always makes the top of the list when people talk about female operatives," while Publishers Weekly says, "Among today's PIs, nobody comes close to Warshawski."

Called "passionate" and "electrifying," V.I. reflects her creator's own passion for social justice. As a contributor ...

... Full Biography
Link to Sara Paretsky's Website

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